Next,
we see Dexter standing in line inside an eccentric-looking diner / coffee
bar. He notes that someone is reading a newspaper with a headline asking:
"Bay Harbor Butcher - Friend or Foe?", and then hears two diners
talking about it, with one saying the victims "had it coming".

He
pays the bill of the woman in front of him (who is juggling a baby while
trying to find her purse).

Next,
we see him walking out to a table on an outdoor patio, where Debra is waiting
for him. They enjoy the coffee, while they discuss the case.

Debra
surprises Dexter by saying that, given the chance, she would put a bullet
in the head of the Bay Harbor Butcher.

He
gets a cell phone call, and has to run.

Q.
What is it actually in real life?

A. An unusual
restaurant in the center of an unusual marina.

Q.
Where can I find it in real life?

A. I thought
I was pretty familiar with the Long Beach coastline and its various marinas,
but to tell the truth, I never even knew that this place existed until
I had to track it down for this particular scene location.

Of course, technically,
it's not even Long Beach, it's Wilmington - so perhaps that lets me off
the hook. ;)

The scene was
filmed at a somewhat seedy little marina
called Leeward Bay Marina, at 611 N. Henry Ford
Avenue, just north of Terminal Island.

You'll find it just west
of the Henry Ford bridge, where the Dominguez Channel passes under Henry
Ford Avenue. In fact, from aerial maps, it appears that the marina is actually
in the Dominguez Channel, just SW of the intersection of E. Anaheim
Street and Henry Ford Ave.

While most marinas tend to
be in upscale areas, working-class Leeward is lost in an isolated, industrial
area on the Long Beach/Wilmington border. The boats it houses tend
to be older ones, often with live-aboard owners. The waters around
it are reportedly badly polluted, with residents joking about the marina
being "where the sewer meets the sea". Railroad trains hauling
freight chug by on the nearby trestle/bridge, and next door are storage
yards and mammoth cranes.

The restaurant at its center
is a local landmark of sorts, a floating, tilting diner, known as "The Chowder Barge",
which has been moored at this marina since the late '60s. It's a
gritty, colorful place, where (according to one L.A. Times report),
you can get "a corn dog, a tasty slice of pumpkin pie and a cup
of coffee for $4.80." It's a place where the restrooms are marked
“Inboards” and “Outboards.”

The
original barge that now houses the Chowder Barge was reportedly built in
1934 as an on-location commissary during the filming of the movie "Mutiny
on the Bounty" (starring Clark Gable & Charles Laughton).
Over the years, it has reportedly been, and I quote, "a
floating brothel, a houseboat, a machine shop, an art studio and an abandoned
hulk". Since 1967, it's been run by a lady named "Miss Mary",
a temperamental sort who serves as waitress, cook,
clerk & cashier.

The
patio where Dexter and Debra have coffee is located at the
top of a ramp just northeast of (and leading up from) the Chowder Barge.

( Another
scene (in the same episode) was shot here: the scene where Lundy takes
off his shoes & socks on the dock. )

The
photos below were shot by Dexter fans Kerry
& Eric, of Long Beach, who also
discovered the locations of the hot dog stand, Cody's school and Paul's
playground. They actually found this spot before I had even watched
the episode, but held off telling me because they know I enjoy the challenge
of tracking down the locations. I was able to find it on my own, but it's
good to know they were there with the answer if I had needed it. Thanks
guys!

A. As I mentioned
above, I had no idea that this marina even existed, let alone the diner.

But fortunately,
the scene on the show included a very clear shot of the distinctive Henry
Ford bridge (which leads from mainland Long Beach to Terminal Island),
and I've seen that bridge many times before in other movie scenes (such
as "Transformers",
"To
Live & Die in L.A." and "The
Fast & the Furious". Film-makers tend to like the Terminal
Island area when they're looking for rough, industrial locations

So, I used
Live Local maps to take a closer look at the waters around the bridge,
and sure enough, there was the marina. The next step was to determine what its name
was, and find out more about the restaurant there. A little Googling turned
up the facts I needed, especially this
very detailed article in the L.A. Times about the marina and
its Barge .